Habit or addiction? Where is the border?

Today, the term ‘addiction’ is overused and misused. When someone is fond of licorice, this is often jokingly referred to as a licorice addiction. However, people do not always realize that under the light use of this term there is a lot of suffering. A real addiction is something else altogether. What is an addiction and what are its characteristics? Here you will find it at a glance.

What is an Addiction?
An addiction is often associated one-to-one with narcotics such as drugs and alcohol. However, this certainly does not always have to be the case. There are many more things that one can become addicted to that actually have a detrimental effect on well-being. Think of a gambling addiction, drug addiction, food addiction or sports addiction. All things that can take on a compulsive form of behavior, and for which you can go to rehab to get help.

The definition of an addiction is that you can no longer do without a substance, both physically and / or psychologically. You need more and more of a certain substance to achieve the same effect and you also get withdrawal symptoms if you (temporarily) no longer ‘use’ this substance. So here is also the border with a habit, the difference lies in the dependency.

Need help?
So it is not a requirement that you are physically completely dependent on a substance to call it an addiction. In principle, psychological dependence is also sufficient for immediate admission to rehab. It is mainly about how much hindrance a client experiences from the addiction. However, sometimes the realization that it concerns an addiction is not yet completely clear, this is something to be aware of with yourself and with people around you.

An example of this is the use of medicines. With tranquilizers or sleeping tablets, for example, it is generally known that more and more is needed to achieve the same effect. The point of an addiction is therefore quickly reached. Enlisting professional help for this is advisable, the sooner this is done, the better the tide can be turned.

In short, an addiction is quickly used as a term in the vernacular. But when someone really has an addiction, it is important to intervene as soon as possible. Addictions are not something that only occurs with junkies and the homeless, it can subconsciously lurk in someone’s life. Be alert to this and take action.